Warm Greetings!

On behalf of the International Japanese Studies Group at Kanagawa University in Yokohama, Japan, I am pleased to announce the following lecture:

 

Bad Poems on Purpose, in Diaries That Aren't Diaries:

Communicating Discontent at the Japanese Court

 

Christian Ratcliff

Associate Professor

Department of Cross-Cultural Studies, Kanagawa University

 

Wednesday, 20 November 2024 (open to the public; in person only)
15:30-17:00
Room 6019
Kanagawa University, Minatomirai Campus
Yokohama

 

Abstract

 

For those who in part used skill at poetry as a means to success within the social economies of Japanese courtly societies during the late-Heian and Kamakura periods, the idea of a poorly-made or ill-advised composition becoming known to others was, generally speaking, anathema. Poetry-themed anecdotal stories, or setsuwa, include many a cautionary tale recounting the humiliation and ridicule that was the reward for those whose bad poems came to light. It is curious to find, therefore, within Japan's literary history a significant number of examples of highly-skilled and profoundly knowledgeable poets creating and circulating poems that they themselves knew to be inappropriate, unsuitable, or obviously flawed.

 

In this presentation I will propose that one key to understanding the motivations behind the composition of such poems, and to comprehending their function within courtly webs of social communication, is the nature of the texts which served in a large number of cases as the carriers for such poems: vernacular diaries, or kana nikki. Once it becomes clear that this genre of text functioned in ways very different from the diaries of today, then its true role as a means for the targeted dissemination of information can be recognized, and reasons why a good poet might use one to transmit a seemingly ill-advised poem begin to come into focus.

 

I will also examine how the fundamental conservatism of Japanese court poetics during the late-Heian and Kamakura periods added weight to the act of intentionally slighting a verse, transforming it into a powerful tool for accomplishing the purpose for which it was most often employed: the voicing of discontent.

To Attend

 

Preregistration (via the link below) at least a day in advance for those coming in person from outside the Kanagawa University community is greatly appreciated. Those coming from off campus must also register as a Guest at the Information counter just inside the building's main entrance before coming up to the room. (Kanagawa University students, faculty, and staff do not need to preregister.)

 

Preregistration (in person only): https://forms.gle/KXoGd2odsxwf1c1u5

 

Future Lectures

 

The International Japanese Studies Group at Kanagawa University also plans the following future lectures the remainder of the Japanese academic year:

 

Wednesday, 18 December 2024 (open to the public; in person only)
Marco Tinello, Kanagawa University
East Asian and Pacific Histories from the Perspective of the Unequal Treaties

 

Wednesday, 15 January 2025 (open to the public; hybrid)
Andrea Castiglioni, Nagoya City University
Mountains on the Move: From Kumano Sanzan to Dewa Sanzan

James Welker

================================================================
|| James Welker  |  ジェームズ・ウェルカー  (he/him)
|| Professor  |  教授 

|| Department of Cross-Cultural Studies, Faculty of Cross-Cultural & Japanese Studies

|| Kanagawa University--Minatomirai Campus

|| 神奈川大学 みなとみらいキャンパス 国際日本学部 国際文化交流学科

|| jrwelker@kanagawa-u.ac.jp  |  jrwelker@me.com

|| Linktree (Professional profiles & social media)

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Co-editor of the Global Queer Asias book series (University of Michigan Press)

Selected Publications:

--James Welker, Transfiguring Women in Late Twentieth Century Japan: Feminists, Lesbians, and Girls' Comics Artists and Fans (University of Hawai'i Press, 2024)
--James Welker, ed. Queer Transfigurations: Boys Love Media in Asia (University of Hawai'i Press, 2022)
--James Welker, ed. "Queer(ing)," special issue of Mechademia: Second Arc 13, no. 1 (2020)
--ジェームズ・ウェルカー 編著『BLが開く扉　変容するアジアのセクシュアリティとジェンダー』(青土社  2019)  [James Welker, ed., BL Opening Doors: Transfiguring Sexuality and Gender in Asia (Seidosha, 2019)]